Twitter erupted with responses to Melania’s blunt fashion statement.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.
At a time when the world is distraught over the separation and detainment of children from their parents at the border, billionaire first lady Melania Trump responded with a resounding “meh.”
On Thursday, June 21, the first lady boarded a plane from Andrews Air Force Base en route to the U.S.-Mexico border wearing an olive-colored jacket with the words “I really don’t care. Do U?” scrawled across the back.
The $39 jacket is from Zara.
\nFLOTUS spox confirms Mrs. Trump wore a jacket to visit border kids that reads: "I really don't care. Do you?" Spox says: "It's a jacket. There was no hidden message. After today's important visit to Texas, I hope the media isn't going to choose to focus on her wardrobe." pic.twitter.com/Bp4Z8n455G
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) June 21, 2018\n
\nIf you need further confirmation re. the 'I DON'T CARE' jacket: AP Images has the photos of Melania Trump wearing it today. pic.twitter.com/vruEDM3Lyq
— Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) June 21, 2018\n
It’s impossible not to look for meaning in Trump’s choice in fashion.
She’s a former model who has a history of making literal statements with her fashion. Most notably, she wore a “pussy bow” blouse after her husband’s notorious “grab ‘em by the pussy” “Access Hollywood” tape dropped. She also broke the dress code in Saudi Arabia by refusing to wear a headscarf.
She reportedly pushed Trump to work toward ending child detainment at the border, so why would she send mixed messages?
The first lady’s communications director says people shouldn’t read too deeply into the fashion faux pas. “It’s a jacket. There was no hidden message. After today’s important visit to Texas, I hope the media isn’t going to choose to focus on her wardrobe,” Stephanie Grisham told CNN in a statement.
\nI agree that there is no "hidden message" when the message is PAINTED IN GIANT LETTERS ON THE BACK FOR EVERYONE TO READ https://t.co/1Z9S3wno3E
— Lincoln Michel (@TheLincoln) June 21, 2018\n
By the time Trump exited the plane in McAllen, Texas, she had traded the olive jacket for a cream-colored one. She then toured two facilities: the Ursula Border Patrol Processing Center and the Upbring New Home Children’s Shelter.
Trump’s decision to wear the jacket raises many questions, including: Did anyone in her entourage tell her the jacket was wildly inappropriate? Was the jacket a cry for help because Trump is immensely unhappy as her role as first lady? Was she taking a shot at Peter Fonda who recently tweeted inappropriate things about her son Barron? Did her husband put her up to it as a way to bait the media, so he could claim moral superiority over “fake news” journalists?
Here’s what Twitter had to say:
\nThat's just weird. THIS is the jacket you choose to wear while media are recording your every move? How is it NOT to be interpreted as a hidden message? Bizarre. https://t.co/Sx48oqOBuZ
— Lynda Steele (@steeletalk) June 21, 2018\n
\nMelania Trump attempts her fashion spin on let them eat cake! Meanwhile toddlers are locked in cages. This administration is a who’s who of Classless bottom dwellers.
— Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) June 21, 2018\n
\nGot a sneak peak of Melania Trump's look for her second day in Texas. pic.twitter.com/UPYFwmMQjx
— Mel Owens (@melowens) June 21, 2018\n
\nFor this week’s most tone-deaf move, Homeland Security Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen had dinner at a Mexican restaurant.
— Chevel (@Chevelpr) June 21, 2018\n
First Lady Melania Trump: “Hold my Beer.”
\n"Mrs. Trump, do you want to visit the children who are being separated from their parents at the border?
— W. Kamau Bell (@wkamaubell) June 21, 2018\n
"Ummm... Not until I find the perfect jacket." - Melania Trump https://t.co/zopfT1Bk1F
\nMelania Trump's Jacket saying "I Don't Really Care, Do U?" was $39
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) June 21, 2018\n
How many $39 jackets do you think the wife of a supposed billionaire owns?
This was Planned to distract us. I'm nearly certain of it.
\nHere's why the "I really don't care" jacket worn by Melania Trump matters.
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) June 21, 2018\n
Michelle's sleeveless dress caused outrage.
Barack caught hell for a tan suit.
If either Obama went to a humanitarian crisis with messaging like this, right-wing America would've hammered them forever. pic.twitter.com/EsuzxoC4JE